Generally, an electrical connector includes a dielectric housing mounting at least one electrically conductive terminal therein. The terminal is electrically connected to another circuit component, such as a discrete electrical wire. Connectors often are employed in mateable pairs such that each terminal and the housing of one connector are mateable with a corresponding terminal and the housing of another connector.
Electrical connector assemblies are used in a wide variety of applications where it is necessary to electrically interconnect a plurality of electrical wires to perform various functions. The terminals of electrical connectors frequently are small components, such as components that are stamped and/or formed from thin sheet metal material. A poor quality electrical connection may occur if one or more terminals are not properly seated in its respective housing. The improper seating of a terminal in a housing may occur if the terminal is not fully inserted into the housing during the initial assembly of the connector or if the terminal is vibrated or pulled out of its fully seated condition during use of the connector. A pulling force on an electrical wire secured to a terminal may cause a temporary break in the electrical contact between the terminal and another terminal of a mating connecting device.
More severe pulling forces on the electrical wire and/or the terminal may cause a partial or complete disconnection. In either event, even a momentary break in the electrical connection may result in spurious operation of an electrically driven device or an electrical circuit associated with the connector.
To avoid these problems, it often is required to provide connectors with some form of a terminal position assurance (TPA) system to detect incomplete and incorrect insertion of the terminals. In some applications, the TPA system or device also performs the function of locking the terminals in the connector housing.
Still further, in using a typical terminal retainer or TPA device, if the retainer detects that one or more terminals are not fully seated, the connector is inspected to locate the incompletely inserted terminal. In some instances, the TPA device not only detects an incompletely inserted terminal, but the device, itself, is used to move the incompletely inserted terminal to its fully inserted position. Regardless of whether the terminal retainer or TPA device is used in a "detect" system or in a "detect and correct" system, the electrical connector assemblies often are made unduly complicated to accommodate these safety considerations.
In addition to the use of TPA devices, some electrical connectors add some form of strain relief means for engaging the electrical wires. The strain relief means are effective to "absorb" pulling forces on the wires so that the pulling forces are not transmitted to the terminals of the connector. The addition of a strain relief means causes problems in further complicating the electrical connector assemblies and/or unduly enlarging the assemblies by providing the additional strain relief components or features.
Still other connector assemblies include some form of wire routing means which are provided to route the electrical wires in a given direction as the wires exit the connector assembly. For instance, it may be desirable to have the wires exit the connector assembly at right angles to their axial directions and the longitudinal directions of the connector terminals so that the connector assembly is easily positionable or assembled in its chassis or other supporting structure. Again, such wire routing means still further complicate the connector assemblies and/or unduly enlarge the assemblies to accommodate the wire routing components or features.
The present invention is directed to solving the above myriad of problems by providing a unique, single TPA device which performs multiple functions of assuring the proper position of the terminals, providing a strain relief means for the electrical wires terminated to the terminals and also providing a wire routing means for the electrical wires.